MOBILE, AL (AP) Bids for work on the interior finishes for the 250-room Battle House Hotel came in over budget, with the apparent low bid of $26.9 million for the Retirement Systems of Alabama project from White-Spunner Construction in Mobile.

The hotel is adjacent to the 35-story RSA Battle House Tower. The project is near the city’s waterfront.

Besides White-Spunner, Archer Western Contractors in Atlanta bid $28.6 million and Yates Jesco, a joint venture $28.9 million. W.G. Yates & Sons Construction is based in Philadelphia, MS, and has an office in Mobile.

Once the hotel contract is finalized, work could start in the next month to 45 days, said Ron Blount, project director of the RSA.

“We can negotiate with the low bidder to do the value engineering,” Blount said, “or we could rebid the project.” He would not comment on what RSA had budgeted for the hotel work until the contract is awarded.

Archer Western was awarded the $73-million contract to construct the core and shell of the office tower last fall, and that work was scheduled to begin in January.

The office tower should be finished in mid-2006, and the hotel should open in fall 2005. The estimated cost of the project is $162 million.